Died On This Date (April 17, 1983) Felix Pappalardi / Producer For Cream, Bassist For Mountain
themusicsover Felix Pappalardi
December 30, 1939 – April 17, 1983
Felix Pappalardi wore many hats during his music career. As a producer, he worked with the likes of Joan Baez, the Youngbloods, and most famously, Cream. As an arranger, he worked on albums by Tom Paxton and Fred Neill. As a musician, he played bass for Mountain. And as a songwriter, he co-wrote one of Cream’s biggest hits, “Strange Brew.” It has been reported that Pappalardi had to retire early because he became partially deaf due to the loudness of Mountain shows. On April 17, 1983, Felix Pappalardi was gunned down by his wife, Gail, in what she claimed was an accident. She was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide.
What You Should Own
Nathan Scott was a prolific composer and arranger who had over 100 film and TV music credits to his name. Over a career that spanned from the early ’40s through the ’70s, Scott helped create the music of such television shows as Lassie, Dragnet, My Three Sons, Rawhide, and The Twilight Zone. His film credits include The Color Purple and Wake of the Red Witch. He was also the father of Grammy-winning saxophonist, Tom Scott. Nathan Scott died of natural causes on February 27, 2010.
Hugo Montenegro was a popular film score composer and orchestra leader whose most popular work came out during the ’60s and ’70s. His use of synthesizers became a major influence upon contemporary electronic musicians. He was also embraced by fans of space pop and lounge music during the ’90s. Montenegro had several hits with his interpretations of film scores of the time. His cover of the theme song of Clint Eastwood’s The Good The Bad and The Ugly made it to #2 on the Billboard pop chart. Montenegro also created the theme songs for I Dream Of Jeannie and Here Come the Brides for television. He died of emphysema on February 6, 1981.
Willie Dixon is best remembered as one of the few main architects of the Chicago blues sound. As a singer, bassist and prolific songwriter, Dixon was one of themost influential figures of the era. He was also considered one of the key bridges between blues and rock ‘n roll. Dixon wrote such blues staples as “Little Red Rooster,” “Hoochie Coochie Man,” and “I Ain’t Superstitious” and has been covered by the likes of Led Zeppelin, Cream, the Faces, Bob Dylan, Queen, the Grateful Dead and the Rolling Stones. In later years, Dixon worked to secure royalties and copyrights for blues artists who had been exploited int the past. He suffered from diabetes for many years and succumbed to heart failure at the age of 76.
